responsible research and innovation: end to end assessment
TRANSCRIPT
Responsible Research and Innovation: End to End
Assessment Pop Up Everyday practices involving menthol products was the theme of a stall run by the SYNBIOCHEM Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) group at the Manchester Institute for Biotechnology Open Day on 18th November 2016. The pop-up stall was designed to engage passers-by to interact with the taste, smell, sight and touch of menthol products and to describe their experiences of using various items. Open-day visitors filled out cards detailing their thoughts. People associated menthol with a variety of memories, including grandparents’ homes, and practices of care such as looking after ill children.
Open Day Stall Team Dr Andrew Balmer, Lecturer in Sociology Dr Barbara Ribeiro, Research Associate, SYNBIOCHEM RRI group Dr Robert Meckin, Research Associate, SYNBIOCHEM RRI group
Background SYNBIOCHEM at the University of Manchester is one of six UK synthetic biology research centres. Each research centre has a particular
focus. SYNBIOCHEM is orientated towards the production of fine and speciality chemicals including various compounds, called terpenoids, which can be used as flavours and fragrances. One of these terpenoids is called menthol. It is a compound often associated with mint flavouring and, when in contact with skin, produces a cooling sensation.
Part of the way SYNBIOCHEM is addressing the agenda of responsible research and innovation (RRI) is by conducting an ‘end-to-end assessment’ for the production of menthol in the laboratory using bacteria and other organisms. This involves conducting different kinds of research in academic, industrial, commercial and public locations.
The Pop Up Stall Scientists and innovators in synthetic biology often discuss the ‘public rejection’ of genetic modification (Marris 2014), and sometimes imagine a single public hostile to genetically altered organisms that can be educated to understand the beneficial potential of technology (Welsh and Wynne, 2013). One of the aims of the pop-up stall was to explore how people make sense of menthol and thus how they may make sense of a change in the methods of production of menthol.
The stall contained a range of menthol products which visitors could taste, smell and rub on their skin. There were coloured postcards for people to record their thoughts.
At the MIB open day, aimed primarily at A-level students, there was a good mix of gender and ethnicity among the visitors. While most were 16-18 years in age, schoolteachers and university members also filled out cards and discussed their experiences.
The responses suggest that people make sense of menthol in ways that they have previously experienced it – as part of practices that include hygiene, health and care.
As part of the encounters with visitors to the stall, the researchers asked about the ways in which menthol products featured in their everyday lives. This showed that when people are thinking about menthol products they tend to make sense of them by reference to family relations, friendships, intimate and personal life. Understanding how people make sense of menthol products as part of everyday practices and social relationships will help the SYNBIOCHEM centre to explore the creation of menthol using bacteria through a ‘responsible research and innovation’ lens. References Marris, C. (2014). The Construction of Imaginaries of the Public as a Threat to Synthetic Biology. Science as Culture, 24(April), 37–41. Welsh, I., & Wynne, B. (2013). Science, scientism and imaginaries of publics in the UK: Passive objects, incipient threats. Science as Culture, 22(4), 540–566. Links SYNBIOCHEM http://synbiochem.co.uk/ SYNBIOCHEM RRI Group: http://synbiochem.co.uk/responsible-research-and-innovation/ Acknowledgements The Manchester Synthetic Biology Research Centre for Fine and Speciality Chemicals (SYNBIOCHEM) is supported by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (Award BB/M017702/1). The open day was at the Manchester Institute of Biotechnology (MIB). This brief is authored by Robert Meckin ([email protected]), Andrew Balmer ([email protected]) and Barbara Ribeiro ([email protected]). SYNBIOCHEM Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) Group Research Brief 16-02.